Helmets and other forms of protective headgear have become increasingly popular in recent years as users have become more aware and concerned about preventing head injuries while participating in sporting events. Numerous forms of special helmets have been developed for use in a wide range of indoor and outdoor sporting activities.
Some early protective helmets did not provide adequate ventilation. Accordingly, such helmets often caused the user to undesirably perspire profusely. Perspiration can cause the user to lose energy and, if goggles or glasses are worn by the user, the perspiration can cause fogging of the goggles or glasses. Adequate ventilation is particularly important in sports, such as skiing and snowboarding, where the participant may significantly exert themselves and perspire.
A number of different helmets having ventilation systems have been developed. One conventional helmet design having a ventilation system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,904,618 to Musal (“'618 patent”). The '618 patent discloses a helmet having a plurality of vents formed therein. A shutter plate is rotatably mounted within a recess in a shock-absorbing liner of the helmet. The shutter plate is rotatably mounted in a manner that allows the shutter plate to be rotated to a first position in which apertures in the shutter plate are aligned with the vents in the helmet so that the vents are substantially open and a second position in which the apertures in the shutter plate are not aligned with the vents in the helmet so that the vents are closed. To open and close the shutter plate, an exposed elongated slot is formed in the front or rear of the helmet and a lever attached to the shutter plate extends through the slot. The user may manually slide the lever along the length of the slot to rotate the shutter plate between the first and second positions. U.S. Patent Application Publication US2004/0064873 to Muskovitz (“'873 Publication”) discloses another configuration for a ventilation system in which the user manually slides a lever along a slot formed in the helmet to move a shutter plate to open and close vents formed in the helmet.
While the helmets disclosed in the '618 patent and the '873 Publication provide effective ventilation systems, the seal between the helmet and the shutter plate is not always sufficient to prevent moisture from leaking into the interior of the helmet. The elongated slots are exposed to the outside environment and provides access for moisture, such as rain or melting snow, to the interior of the helmet. The exposed slot can also ice over making movement of the lever within the slot more difficult. Additionally, the small lever for moving the shutter plate between the open and closed positions can be difficult to operate with a bulky glove or mitten commonly worn by skiers and snowboarders.
Therefore, there is still a need in the art for a helmet suitable for use in outdoor sports, such as skiing and snowboarding, having an actuator assembly configured for moving a shutter plate or the like to open and close vents in the helmet that does not allow a significant amount of moisture to leak through to the interior of the helmet. It would also be desirable that the actuator assembly have a low profile and be easy for the user to manually operate with bulky handwear, such as gloves and mittens, commonly worn during skiing and snowboarding.